Corporal Walter V Filipek
Walter Vincent Filipek was born on June 16th, 1925 in Raleigh, West Virginia to Anton Filipek and Aniela Byk, both Polish immigrants who arrived in the United States in 1911. He was the third oldest of an eventual ten siblings and attended the local Woodrow Wilson High School while World War Two kicked off in Europe. When the US was finally dragged into the conflict after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Walter had to wait two years before becoming of age to join the fight. He managed to graduate high school early before rushing to a Marine Corps enlistment station on March 3rd, 1943 to serve his country. After completing boot camp, he was sent within the states to the Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island where he spent the next year and a half on guard duty while the war in the Pacific raged thousands of miles away. By late 1944, he was finally alerted to an overseas replacement draft and shipped off to Guadalcanal for further jungle training before sailing with the 33rd Replacement Draft for an island called Okinawa.
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Okinawa
As the USS Caswell arrived off the coast of Okinawa on April 1st, 1945 the assault was one to behold. The island had been relentlessly pounded for days prior to DDay, and at 5:30 AM, the Navy lobbed a further 50,000 shells in preparation for the landing as the Marines entered their amphibious vehicles and began to go ashore. Resistance was expected to be the fiercest encountered, yet when the assault troops landed, they encountered only the occasional straggler and pushed inland ahead of schedule. The USS Caswell disembarked PFC Filipek and the 33rd Replacement Draft on the first day where they spent the next few weeks in staging areas waiting to be pieced out to combat units at the front who were finally encountering serious Japanese resistance. On April 19th, Filipek trudged inland to join Company C, 1st Battalion, 29th Marines who had just captured Motobu Peninsula a day earlier.
“We took the northern half of the island in 19 days. President Roosevelt died…in April and we was up in the northern end..and about 2 o’clock in the morning everything was quiet, and this Japanese could speak very fluent English. He says “Hey you Marines! What you gonna do now your leader’s dead?” This Marine says “We go whip your ass and go home!” That’s what we done.” remembered Filipek.
The 29th Marines then began heading down south on the western section of the Allied line where PFC Filipek got his first taste of combat while chasing the retreating Japanese towards the Shuri defenses, where they relieved the 1st Marine Division on May 8th. But the worst was yet to come.
“We headed down south…we got to a place called Sugar Loaf (on May 13th). That was the worst battle… We was on top and they was underneath us and they could go out and throw grenades at us… I had a hole dug there about three foot deep with dirt around. I happen to look up and here comes a grenade rolling down the hill… I threw it back…”
“The blowflies were so thick that you could not eat your rations. I had bullet holes through my sleeves, pack, one went through my helmet, and every time a bullet go through (the air) those flies would “whoosh”. A wonder any of us lived through it, but we made it.”
The 29th Marines fought and suffered heavy casualties on and around Sugar Loaf before it was captured on May 19th, and they were relieved from the line on the same day, but continued forward behind the main assault. During the advance through Naha, his company captured a Japanese prisoner.
“Gunnery Sergeant says “Walt, take the prisoner back, but you be back here in a minute.” I said “Yes sir, a minute?” he said “You heard what I said” I said “I’ll be back”. So…he only had one picture on him…he wouldn’t give it up… I looked at my watch and time was going by, I had to shoot him to get the picture. (It was) of Japanese soldiers cutting Chinese heads off and putting them in a cage….I was told maybe they were just checking their swords. I still have that picture.”
The 29th Marines reentered the line on May 28th to advance towards the Kokuba River. First, PFC Filipek and his regiment had to attack Hill 4.6 through Hill 30th. During the assault on May 29th, Filipek was wounded by shrapnel in his side and dragged 900 yards to a hospital tent. After a quick assessment, the doctor declared him “fit for duty” and he was forcefully sent back to the front line. “My two buddies dragged me for ten days (afterwards), I could not move.”
“As we started south again we got a new Lieutenant, a 90 day wonder. He says “You take your squad and you go about 200 yards up there and dig in.” I said “No sir I ain’t gonna do that…do you realize you’re trying to put me in the crossfire…you are 6’4 tall standing up looking around, you better crawl and give your orders or you’ll get killed. By 4 o’clock that evening a sniper got him through the neck and killed him.” recalled Filipek.
As he gained more combat experience, he began to catch on to the common Japanese tactics common with Okinawa and other previous island campaigns. “They taught me kill or be killed and I killed and didn’t ask no questions. You couldn’t trust (the Japanese). If they got too close to you they could have a grenade or a pistol, you never know, so shoot first and live longer… They pretend to be dead and some of them pull other Japs on top of them…Sometimes I took the rifle with a bayonet on and turn them over, and if they move I knew it was alive, so you shoot him and go about your business.”
By early June, it was clear that the battle for Okinawa was coming to a close, yet the 29th Marines were tasked with clearing the last main pocket of Japanese resistance on Oroku Peninsula. Although outgunned and undertrained, the Japanese were hell bent on making the Marines pay for every inch of ground. During a particularly difficult assault on a series of hills on Oroku, PFC Filipek’s heroic actions warranted the Bronze Star.
“The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Bronze Star Medal to PFC Walter V Filipek, USMC. For heroic achievement while serving in Company C, 1st Battalion, 29th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division in action against the enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa, June 12th, 1945. While the company was attacking a strongly defended hill on the Oroku Peninsula, PFC Filipek unhesitatingly went to the aid of his squad leader who was lying wounded on exposed position on the forward slope of the berm ridge. Although subject to intense machine gun fire while carrying his wounded squad leader to safety, he noted the position of a hostile weapon and later directed the fire of other members of the squad with the result that the enemy gun which had held up the advance of his platoon”
Although he was fortunate to survive unscathed, Filipek was hit by shrapnel to the left knee the following day and evacuated to a hospital on the island where he remained when Okinawa was declared secure on June 22nd, 1945. Japan announced their unconditional surrender nearly three months later, and Filipek’s job went from that of a combat marine to an occupational force in China repatriating Japanese soldiers to the mainland. Finally, on March 2nd, 1946, he left for the US on the USS Young America and was honorably discharged on April 3rd with a promotion to Corporal. Walter returned to West Virginia and married Loyce Meador. His knack and passion for engineering led him to become the Construction Superintendent for Union Carbide until retiring to care for his wife before she sadly passed away in 1989. In 2013, Walter was finally awarded his Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals which were never provided to him after WW2. “The biggest problem that I had in getting my medals was proving that I was still alive.” he joked. In 2017, the eastbound Route 60 bridge in Putnam county was named in his honor. He sadly passed away on January 26th, 2023.
As the USS Caswell arrived off the coast of Okinawa on April 1st, 1945 the assault was one to behold. The island had been relentlessly pounded for days prior to DDay, and at 5:30 AM, the Navy lobbed a further 50,000 shells in preparation for the landing as the Marines entered their amphibious vehicles and began to go ashore. Resistance was expected to be the fiercest encountered, yet when the assault troops landed, they encountered only the occasional straggler and pushed inland ahead of schedule. The USS Caswell disembarked PFC Filipek and the 33rd Replacement Draft on the first day where they spent the next few weeks in staging areas waiting to be pieced out to combat units at the front who were finally encountering serious Japanese resistance. On April 19th, Filipek trudged inland to join Company C, 1st Battalion, 29th Marines who had just captured Motobu Peninsula a day earlier.
“We took the northern half of the island in 19 days. President Roosevelt died…in April and we was up in the northern end..and about 2 o’clock in the morning everything was quiet, and this Japanese could speak very fluent English. He says “Hey you Marines! What you gonna do now your leader’s dead?” This Marine says “We go whip your ass and go home!” That’s what we done.” remembered Filipek.
The 29th Marines then began heading down south on the western section of the Allied line where PFC Filipek got his first taste of combat while chasing the retreating Japanese towards the Shuri defenses, where they relieved the 1st Marine Division on May 8th. But the worst was yet to come.
“We headed down south…we got to a place called Sugar Loaf (on May 13th). That was the worst battle… We was on top and they was underneath us and they could go out and throw grenades at us… I had a hole dug there about three foot deep with dirt around. I happen to look up and here comes a grenade rolling down the hill… I threw it back…”
“The blowflies were so thick that you could not eat your rations. I had bullet holes through my sleeves, pack, one went through my helmet, and every time a bullet go through (the air) those flies would “whoosh”. A wonder any of us lived through it, but we made it.”
The 29th Marines fought and suffered heavy casualties on and around Sugar Loaf before it was captured on May 19th, and they were relieved from the line on the same day, but continued forward behind the main assault. During the advance through Naha, his company captured a Japanese prisoner.
“Gunnery Sergeant says “Walt, take the prisoner back, but you be back here in a minute.” I said “Yes sir, a minute?” he said “You heard what I said” I said “I’ll be back”. So…he only had one picture on him…he wouldn’t give it up… I looked at my watch and time was going by, I had to shoot him to get the picture. (It was) of Japanese soldiers cutting Chinese heads off and putting them in a cage….I was told maybe they were just checking their swords. I still have that picture.”
The 29th Marines reentered the line on May 28th to advance towards the Kokuba River. First, PFC Filipek and his regiment had to attack Hill 4.6 through Hill 30th. During the assault on May 29th, Filipek was wounded by shrapnel in his side and dragged 900 yards to a hospital tent. After a quick assessment, the doctor declared him “fit for duty” and he was forcefully sent back to the front line. “My two buddies dragged me for ten days (afterwards), I could not move.”
“As we started south again we got a new Lieutenant, a 90 day wonder. He says “You take your squad and you go about 200 yards up there and dig in.” I said “No sir I ain’t gonna do that…do you realize you’re trying to put me in the crossfire…you are 6’4 tall standing up looking around, you better crawl and give your orders or you’ll get killed. By 4 o’clock that evening a sniper got him through the neck and killed him.” recalled Filipek.
As he gained more combat experience, he began to catch on to the common Japanese tactics common with Okinawa and other previous island campaigns. “They taught me kill or be killed and I killed and didn’t ask no questions. You couldn’t trust (the Japanese). If they got too close to you they could have a grenade or a pistol, you never know, so shoot first and live longer… They pretend to be dead and some of them pull other Japs on top of them…Sometimes I took the rifle with a bayonet on and turn them over, and if they move I knew it was alive, so you shoot him and go about your business.”
By early June, it was clear that the battle for Okinawa was coming to a close, yet the 29th Marines were tasked with clearing the last main pocket of Japanese resistance on Oroku Peninsula. Although outgunned and undertrained, the Japanese were hell bent on making the Marines pay for every inch of ground. During a particularly difficult assault on a series of hills on Oroku, PFC Filipek’s heroic actions warranted the Bronze Star.
“The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Bronze Star Medal to PFC Walter V Filipek, USMC. For heroic achievement while serving in Company C, 1st Battalion, 29th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division in action against the enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa, June 12th, 1945. While the company was attacking a strongly defended hill on the Oroku Peninsula, PFC Filipek unhesitatingly went to the aid of his squad leader who was lying wounded on exposed position on the forward slope of the berm ridge. Although subject to intense machine gun fire while carrying his wounded squad leader to safety, he noted the position of a hostile weapon and later directed the fire of other members of the squad with the result that the enemy gun which had held up the advance of his platoon”
Although he was fortunate to survive unscathed, Filipek was hit by shrapnel to the left knee the following day and evacuated to a hospital on the island where he remained when Okinawa was declared secure on June 22nd, 1945. Japan announced their unconditional surrender nearly three months later, and Filipek’s job went from that of a combat marine to an occupational force in China repatriating Japanese soldiers to the mainland. Finally, on March 2nd, 1946, he left for the US on the USS Young America and was honorably discharged on April 3rd with a promotion to Corporal. Walter returned to West Virginia and married Loyce Meador. His knack and passion for engineering led him to become the Construction Superintendent for Union Carbide until retiring to care for his wife before she sadly passed away in 1989. In 2013, Walter was finally awarded his Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals which were never provided to him after WW2. “The biggest problem that I had in getting my medals was proving that I was still alive.” he joked. In 2017, the eastbound Route 60 bridge in Putnam county was named in his honor. He sadly passed away on January 26th, 2023.